Safe Here with Me
by resslerxxelizabeth
Summary: AU(sometime in the future): Tom and Elizabeth just got divorced, Tom threw Liz out, and now she's living at her work until an unlikely co-worker helps her out.
1. You Can Stay With Me

"_The divorce is final." Tom scowled._

"_Good. Let me leave in peace." Liz crossed her arms._

"_Before you leave this parking lot, grab your stuff." He growled._

"_Wait,what? I never put my belongings in the car!" She yelled back._

_Tom pondered his thoughts for a moment, "I did. Now go get your shit out of the car. It's all in perfect condition."_

"_Tom, I never asked you to that." Elizabeth grew suspicious of her newly ex-husband._

"_Get your shit out of the car, NOW!" He pointed to the car._

_Liz turned around and she walked to the car they shared for the longest time. The car was a symbol of the past and it started to hurt her eyes the more she stared at it. She lifted the lid of the trunk up and noticed a box of clothes and pictures. She opened the box and noticed the clothes were torn. The frames of the pictures were smashed. The contents of the box were in shambles. A tear slid down her face. This wasn't what she deserved. This represented what Tom Keen ended up being. A complete asshole. She looked back one last time to see him with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall of the building._

Liz woke up at her desk. It really did happen. The divorce. She was freed from someone who was haunting her. But she has nothing good to look forward to. Liz lifted her head up from the desk and noticed Meera was standing in the doorway. She collected herself and stood up from her seat.

"Meera, what's going on?" Liz asked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing, what happened to you?" Meera shown concern on her face.

"I just got divorced to Tom and now I'm homeless." She replied, slumping back into her seat.

"Aw, hun, you need to stop living here and find a place to stay. I'd let you stay with me, but I have no room." Meera lied.

Elizabeth sighed, "That's fine, I'll find a place to stay soon, but for now my office is my home."

Meera looked over towards the box that Tom gave Elizabeth before she left the court. "What happened here?"

Liz put her head down on her desk, "Tom."

"Liz, you need to get new clothes and a home. I wish I could help. I need to go, Cooper was asking for me before I walked in here. I'll see you later!" Meera ran out of the room in a hurry, and passed the windows of Liz's office.

Elizabeth wanted to do with no one, and nothing. She just stayed in her office and shut the blinds. The only thing that could keep her mind occupied was writing down notes on the latest criminal they have to track down.

"Agent Keen," Donald called out side the door.

Liz got up from her desk and opened the door. "What now?" She said with a bit of attitude at the end.

Don looked at Liz's face and messy hair. "I was going to say we found out that the criminal we're tracking isn't easy to find, but I think you knew that; and I now am curious what happened. You don't seem right, Keen."

"Donald, you need to understand, I just got divorced, and now I have no place to call home besides my office. That's why I'm in this condition. If you want to give me a therapy session, it will have to wait another day." Liz tried to slam the door in Ressler's face, but he was stronger than her, and opened the door again. She backed away a little, with anger covering her complexion.

"You can't get rid of me this easily. Now, tell me what happened. I swear I won't speak of this to anyone." Donald walked through the door and shut it behind him.

"If you do, I swear, I'll put an end to you." Liz threatened him.

"I promise." Ressler sat on the couch beside the broken-down box beside him.

Liz paced behind her desk to clear her head and sat in her chair. "Tom and I got divorced yesterday, and I've been living in Hell. I can't sleep right, I don't feel freed, I feel trapped and triggered. He's hurt me, and I want the scars from his abuse to go away." Liz broke down and fell out of her chair.

As Lizzie cried, Ressler crouched beside her with one hand on her back, rubbing it back and forth. "Liz, it's going to be okay. Shh, it's gonna be alright."

Liz tried catching her breath and she had a difficulty doing so. "No. I won't be alright." She muttered under breath.

Ressler put his arms around her and pulled her into his chest. "Lizzie, you will. I swear."

She cooed into his chest, "No, no, no."

"Yes. Yes you will." Don whispered into her hair.

Donald and Liz moved to the wall beside her desk and he let her sigh into his shirt. Moments went by without words. Just sighs, and slow breaths.

Liz fell asleep in Donald's arms. They both didn't mind, especially Donald. He's wanted to get out of being a walking-talking FBI robot. Liz was the only one he can show that side to. She is the only one.

Liz opened her eyes, and sat back up. "Donald, I'm sorry I wasted your time, it's already 7:50 pm. Please don't be angry with me."

Don's arms were still around Liz, "I'm not angry, I was only here with you because I was comforting you. You don't need to apologize."

A breath left Liz's lips, "I'm sorry for overreacting. It's just too much I've gone through."

"You don't need to explain. I know you're still healing and getting through this." Donald pushed Elizabeth's bangs back and grinned back at her. "I've missed that smiling face of yours. No more tears."

The words Donald said caused Lizzie to blush many colors of red. "Thank you... I hope I didn't ruin your day."

"You certainly did not. I swear you didn't. To make it up to you, I think you deserve a home. Do you want to stay with me until you're back on your feet again?" He asked so politely.

"Wait, you're letting me stay with you?"

"Yes, you don't deserve to live here. You need a home."

Liz immediately wrapped her arms around Don's neck and embraced him. "Thank you."

"You're so welcome."

**Author's Note: I know I wrote their names too much in the dialogue, but I'm still learning the ways of writing good fics. If you enjoyed this, I'll add to this in the future, and I mean it!**


	2. A Brand New Start and a Downfall

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Blacklist, if I did, these two would be together and Tom and Audrey would have already been sent away.**

Donald and Elizabeth have left the Post Office and headed to Donald's apartment. The entire way in the car caused Elizabeth to take a nap while Donald drove. At every stop light, he'd look over at her to make sure she was alright. He's never been so concerned for her until now. It reminded him of the times when he would watch Audrey as she was asleep and he was awake. Ten minutes pass with silence, Donald eases his way into his parking spot, and he parks his car. He's really tempted not to wake Liz, but he has to in order to bring her inside.

"Liz, Lizzie," Donald shook her shoulder lightly, "Keen, wake up."

Elizabeth's eyes open slowly, and blink a few times. "What?" She says sleepily.

"We're here, once you're settled inside, you can fall asleep comfortably." He unbuckled his seat belt and took the keys out of the vehicle.

"Oh, right. Maybe I'd rather sleep out here tonight." Liz joked as she sat up in her seat and stretched her arms out.

Ressler smiled, "Sleepy head, let's go inside and you can sleep after."

Liz shrugged, unbuckled her seatbelt and got her box off the floor of the passenger's seat.

Donald got out of his side of the car, came over to her's and let her out of the car like a gentleman. He lead the way to the apartment, walked up the three steps to the door and put his fifth key into the keyhole of the door. He turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.

Liz stepped next to Donald and admired the place. It was nicer than she thought. The floors were wooden and glossed over. Her eyes wondered in amazement, the next thing she saw was the table that matched the floors and was cleared. Liz couldn't stop looking at everything in the kitchen and thinking it looked a hell of a lot nicer than her old one was. The stove, microwave, refrigerator, and dishwasher were all black and matched each other. Liz's mouth dropped in awe of everything she saw.

Donald smiled as he saw Elizabeth's reaction to everything, "It's much better if you step inside," he snickered.

"I never knew you were into matching, and having a beautiful apartment like this." Liz stepped through the door and shut it behind her.

"I guess you don't really know all about me then."

"Well, it's the truth, I don't."

Donald started walking in front of Liz, and started leading the way again. "To the right is the living room, I know there isn't much, but if you were a single guy like me you'd understand why there's minimal furniture."

"Oh, still it's gorgeous."

Donald moved down the hallway, "To your right is the bathroom, and it has a strange walk-in closet inside if you want to put some of your belongings there. And towards your right is my bedroom. And if we keep heading down this hallway is the guest room, that you can call your own until you get back on your feet."

"Ressler, that means a lot to me that you're letting me stay here, you really didn't need to do this." Liz replied as she looked up at him.

"Liz, you need somewhere to call your home, and here it is. I hope you'll stay." He stated.

"I will, and thank you very much." She put her box down and stood back up. She wrapped her arms around Don's neck once more and pulled herself close to him. "Thank you."

Donald gulped, "You're welcome... again."

Liz pulled away, grabbed her box and walked to her room and noticed it was purely all white. Her jaw dropped once again seeing how beautiful the room looked. The white walls, the white desk and chair, the white bed spread and pillows, along with the white carpet, without a speck of another color anywhere. It looked like a clean slate just for her. A brand new start just for her.

Ressler walked into the room, noticing Elizabeth admiring the room. "I see you like it a lot."

Liz turned around and made sure her mouth wasn't dropped. "I really do, it seemed like you thought of everything."

"Well, this used to be Audrey's sanctuary. She'd use this room for work or whenever she was trying to get away from all the bad things. I personally can't stand to look at the door, it would remind me of her leaving it shut, and her shutting me out. Please make sure to keep it open, that's all." He looked down before walking away to his room.

Liz spoke, "Okay. Sleep well, Ressler. I'll see you in the morning."

Ressler replied from the room over, "I should be saying that to you. Goodnight, Liz."

Elizabeth looked into her box again and put it onto the desk. She took out clothing piece for clothing piece in her box and noticed all of them were torn. She was hoping there would be at least one shirt, one pair of pants, one dress, one something wasn't torn and disfigured. Obviously nothing. Liz put her torn clothes back into the box and sighed. She felt like all she had before was perfect, and then he world was wrecked. Liz really wanted to act independent during this time to prove to herself and Ressler she can do it all on her own, but she knew in order to get to that portion in her life, she'd have to ask for help first. As much as she'd hate it, she had to do it.

Liz got to her feet once again, and walked to Ressler's room and noticed he was shirtless with a pair of pajama pants covering the lower region of his body, his back facing towards her, but near his night stand.

Liz knocked on the doorframe, "Ressler,"

Donald turned around and looked back at Liz, "What's going on?"

"Well, you know the box of torn and broken things Tom gave back to me?" She asked.

"Yeah, he shouldn't have done that." Ressler clenched his fists, then let them go.

"I don't have anything to wear to go to sleep in, do you have an oversized t-shirt I could borrow for tonight or something?" Liz asked.

Donald thought for a minute and pictured her in one of his shirts, he really wished he didn't do that because he felt like he broke a boundary of their working partnership. "I think I do, and you don't need to give it back, it's fine with me, let me find one and I'll bring it to you." He answered.

"Thanks." She walked back to her room in silence.

She looked back to her bed, noticing the box there still. Liz put it under the white desk and sat down at the chair as she waited for Ressler to arrive back with something she could borrow.

"Keen, here." Ressler walked to the desk and gave her a plain white t-shirt he found that was still folded properly.

"Thanks. Goodnight, Ress." Liz smiled.

He walked out of the room and said as he got to his room,"You're very welcome. Night, Lizzie."

Liz heard the door shut, and a light go off from his room. It was like a signal for her to be okay to change into the shirt he gave her. She pulled off the clothing piece by piece and looked at herself in the mirror, noticing all the scars that Tom caused. It made her freeze up inside and remember the fights and the abuse he caused to her. He decided to beat her months before the divorce, and there were cuts and bruises still there all over her back and abdomen. It scared her knowing that he could come back and do this again.

Tears started streaming down her face and she started to sob into her hands, hoping Ressler wouldn't hear. She quickly pulled the shirt over her head and put her arms through the sleeves. The shirt cut off before her knees, and the sleeves ended a little before her elbows. She hoped the scars wouldn't show through the shirt, and that Donald wouldn't ask about what happened any further than he already knows.

Liz walked towards the door to turn off the light, then walked back to her bed getting underneath the warm comforter and sheets beneath it. Her eyes closed and she drifted slowly off to sleep.

**Author's Note: I decided to take my time in writing this one, and I hoped it paid off. Thank you for reading, and possibly stay tuned for more.**


	3. I Won't Hurt You

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Blacklist or any of the characters in the show.**

* * *

The first night Liz stayed at Ressler's place, she felt very out of place. She felt like she didn't deserve all the attention he gave her. She was tempted to change and walk out the door. She knew she couldn't without him not knowing. The only reason why she wants to go is because she thinks she deserves not to be living with him. Ever since he brought up Audrey's name again, theres been this one thought running through her mind. That Audrey would come in and think Ressler was already over her and possibly dating the woman who was lying in her sanctuary. That thought has scared her for a while. She attempted to get her mind off of that by pulling the covers over her head and seeing only darkness. Her eyelids shut once more and she dozed off to sleep again.

* * *

Donald woke up early the next morning at around seven o'clock and walked into the kitchen to make Elizabeth and himself coffee, hoping she'd awake shortly after him. He fixed the coffee maker to fit their likings and set out two cups out on the counter beside the coffee maker. While he waited for Liz's coffee to be made, he walked into the living room and peered out the window, holding his cup of warm coffee; admiring the sunrise and hearing the cars coming up and down the street.

Elizabeth woke up and pulled the covers over her head off of her. She turned to the right and had her feet planted on the floor. She stood up and pulled the shirt that Don let her borrow down a little and walked out of the open door way of the room. Liz paused as she was close to the kitchen and seeing Donald looking out of the window.

"Good morning." Liz yawned as her arms stretched upward.

Donald turned around and smirked, "Good morning, Liz. How did you sleep last night?"

"Pretty well," she put her arms down and pulled the shirt down again. "What about you?"

"Okay, as always. I hoped you weren't having nightmares or anything. I heard you wake up twice." He grew concerned.

Liz sighed, "I wasn't having nightmares, I didn't really have much of dreams, just a blank, black visual."

"I see." Donald dropped the subject, "Do you want some coffee? I made some fresh if you wanted some."

A smile was brought to her face, "Sure, do you have any sugar and creamer?"

"Well, you're in luck, I have a little bit of both left, and I saved it just for you. Just in case." He walked to the kitchen and pointed out her mug. "The creamer is in the fridge and the sugar is in the fourth upper cabinet."

Liz blushed a little, "I don't know if I can stop thanking you."

"You being here is thanks enough." Ressler said without thinking. "Um, I didn't mean to say that-"

She cut him off swiftly, "That's very kind of you Ressler, and don't start making up excuses in front of me. Remember, I am a profiler, and I know when you lie or not." She made her way towards the counter to get her mug and spoon.

"I should have known that by now." He muttered under his breath.

Liz grinned as she ignored his comment and grabbed the sugar and creamer to put into her coffee, with her back facing Don. Donald looked at the back of the shirt that Liz was wearing and could see a long red line from her left to her right shoulder blades. Ressler really wanted to ask if Tom caused this, but he knew it was too soon for her to be triggered by any memory of him. He kept looking slowly down Liz's shirt, noticing there were tinier scars under the long one.

Donald look up before Liz turned around, trying to make it seem like he wasn't starring at her back. He looked back down at her once she turned around.

Liz crossed her arms, and started again "What were you doing?"

"I have one question to ask."

"What is it?"

"Did Tom ever hurt you?"

Liz was debating whether or not to answer that, she knew it wasn't going to be an easy answer to reply with either. "Um. Where do I start?" She paused, "A few months before Tom and I got divorced, he got drunk at this photography exhibit and someone decided to bring him home. When he finally got inside, he was curious where I was, and he got furious. He found me asleep in _our _room and he woke me up with ten punches at my face,"

"That bastard." Ressler muttered.

"I woke up and he dragged me out of the bed by my arm, causing me to fall to the floor and hit objects that were in the way of everything. Next, he threw me down the stairs. I collapsed to the floor at the bottom of them with a thud. I couldn't remember anything else from that point onward, the one thing I remember him placing me on the kitchen table and started slashing my stomach and back with a sharp knife, and when he would mutter strange things as he cut. I was powerless as he did this. He didn't go through my organs, but he used the knife to start cutting my skin. He only got to his fifth slice and passed out on the floor with his knife by the sink. He's abused me more times than that." Once Liz said that last word, she covered her face with her hands.

Instead of another reply, Ressler wrapped his arms around Liz and pulled her towards him. "Shh, shh, shh... It's over now. He's not here." His hand moved up and down lightly rubbing her back like he did when they were in the office. Hoping her wouldn't hurt her.

"I don't know what to do. I know I divorced him, but his scars are still with me." Liz sobbed against his chest.

"I'll never hurt you like he did. Elizabeth, you mean too much to the team."

Donald looked at Liz with sincerity covering his face. Liz kept her eyes closed and her arms around his neck. Don wanted to speak softly to her, but he just stayed silent, holding her as she was holding herself against him. They both let go slowly, and Liz turned back around to get her coffee back into her hands. She sipped on the hot liquid as Donald walked towards his room.

"Lizzie, I'm going to get ready, you should get started on that too. I'm bringing you shopping. You need to get rid of the stuff that's ruined." Don yelled from his room.

Liz put her mug down on the counter and ran to her room to get the box. She rummaged through it to find the pictures of her with her friends and her dog, Hudson. It took a while to get everything that was still in good condition, and to toss the damaged things back into the box. Once she was done separating them, she put the pictures on her desk and the box was placed at her door to keep the door open. She walked to get her clothes from the day before from the floor and was on her way to the bathroom to change. Once she got to the bathroom door, it was shut.

Liz knocked on the door a few times, "Ressler! How long is it gonna take you to get ready?"

Ressler snickered to himself, "As long as I want to!"

"Alright! I'm going to use your room to get ready!" She rolled her eyes, walked to his room and shut the door.

Liz walked away from the bathroom, and into his room. She put the clothes from yesterday on Don's bed, pulled off the shirt he let her borrow and dropped it next to her feet. Next she grabbed her purple shirt and jacket and pulled it over her torso, realizing that there was a tear on the seam. She grumbled to herself as she pulled the black work pants over her legs and buttoned them up again. Her socks and shoes were in her room, so she had to go back and get them.

Once Liz opened the door, she noticed a dripping wet Donald standing in the door way, looking like he were to knock on the door that was in his way. Liz blushed and couldn't hold it back.

"I thought you were going to change and that was it." She tried to avoid him by sliding against the wall out into the hallway.

"No, I was actually going to take a shower first. The bathroom is all yours now." Ressler smiled as Liz squirmed to get out of the room.

"It's fine, I only have to do a few things, and that's it. Once I'm done and you're done we can go to where you wanted to." Liz walked back to her room facing him the entire way until she ran into her room.

"Take as long as you need." Donald replied, closing the door behind him.

Liz pulled her socks and shoes on and managed to get into the bathroom without Don there. She quickly looked for a toothbrush in the closet Donald talked about and tried looking for a hairbrush, but only found a comb. Instead of brushing her hair out with a comb, she tied it all back into a messy bun. Liz turned to the counter of the bathroom and brushed her teeth as quick as she could.

"I'm ready to go, now I'm just waiting on you, Princess." Donald knocked on the door, then stood against the wall in the hallway.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at the comment, and opened the door. "Okay, I look presentable. Now, where are you bringing us?"

"I'm bringing you shopping, you need to get some new clothes and necessities for the place. I know you're gonna be here a while, might as well make yourself at home."

Liz opened her eyes, "You don't need to do these things for me, I'm perfectly fine with what I have."

"Liz, you need to have more than one outfit and I don't know if you'll be able to wear everything I have." Donald laughed.

"Ha, ha. Funny, but I bet I could. You're doing too much for me."

"One more favor for a friend, that's all." He put his hand out towards Liz, waiting for her to accept it.

Liz was hesitant, "Um... Okay. But this is it."

* * *

**Author's note: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and trust me, I'll keep updating this as soon as I can. **


	4. I Know You Well Enough

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Blacklist. Carry on.**

Once the two got into the car, they were on their way. Immediately after they left the silent street, they hit a patch of traffic. This left Ressler bickering about how long the traffic will last. Elizabeth ignored him, and just starred out her window, looking at the pedestrians walking on the street, one of them specifically. The sight of them reminded her of when she was in college. Alone, angry at the world surrounding her, but feeling so free.

Liz snapped out of her memories when Donald grabbed her shoulder tight, then let her go.

"Keen, we're here." He said.

Liz looked at her lap and looked back up, "Okay, that's fine."

They both got out of the car and started toward the stores on right side of the road. The first store they got to was by a name that they couldn't pronounce, yet they decided to go there first. Donald only picked this store out first to see how expensive everything was and see if his budget would be able to spoil Liz.

They stepped through the doors, and the scent of lavender was everywhere and it lured Liz to everything she was near. Donald followed shortly behind, closely looking at the prices of the pieces of clothing Liz looked at before she went to the next one. They all were a hundred dollars or more. The only thing he hoped was that she wouldn't want anything from this store, but seeing her amused by the clothes shes been seeing, it made him lose the hopes of that from happening.

Elizabeth was drawn to the clearance section in the back of the store, and she started looking closely for something that wasn't going to interfere with her rent's budget. Most of the clothing in this section costed from fifty dollars and below. It was the perfect range for her to go. Donald started suggesting shirts and jackets to her and she ended up noticing that they were what she would wear. It made her realize that Don knew what she was into.

When Liz found three clothing pieces that were perfect prices and what she liked, she went to the dressing rooms to decide whether she liked the fit of them and if they were completely worth the money. The first outfit was what Donald picked out just for her. A black jacket, a blue blouse, and a pair of black dress pants. It looked very similar to what she had, but a little more expensive than what she bought in the past. She felt very confident in it, so she decided to come out of the dressing room and show Donald what it looked like on her.

Ressler smiled at the sight of her looking so happy in the outfit he picked out for her. He was hoping that she would have this reaction, and it was worth seeing her this happy.

"What do you think?" Elizabeth asked as she stood in between the stalls in front of the mirror and Donald.

"Since I picked it out, it looks great, and I think blue is really your color."

"Red told me that once, I never put that into consideration into shopping before. I guess, we're going onto the next outfit then." She walked back into the dressing room and closed the door again.

Liz changed out of the first outfit and called Ressler over to get the clothes from underneath the stall door. He gladly got up and took them from her and brought them over with him to his seat. Liz got back into her old clothes and exited the stall, and kept the counter on the door to make sure nobody would take the stall. She walked to Ressler and noticed he organized a pile of three other outfits to make her try on. She was a tad excited to get started on trying on the next batch to see what he thought would fit her figure. Ressler passed her the next pile of clothes, she accepted, and ran to the dressing room to try it on. The outfit consisted of a red long sleeved blouse, and dark dress pants like before. She gathered it all together with a thin brown belt and walked out the door for a second time.

"You really thought out this." Liz started to admire herself in the mirror behind Donald.

"Well, I am quite aware of your sense of fashion, mostly from seeing you at work wearing very similar things daily." Donald rolled his eyes.

"Ress, thank you for this, but we don't need to buy all this here, maybe we can find another store with better prices and more of a selection."

"It's fine, you didn't do too bad with the prices so far, trust me. I'll take care of this, today it's all about you." He walked up to her and handed her the last pile of clothes left for her to try on.

"Whatever you say." Liz said before shutting the door behind her.

Elizabeth changed her clothes one last time in the stall and realized he picked out something completely different from what she has ever worn. A long navy blue dress with a black cardigan. It wasn't that she didn't like it, she loved this, but she thought he went too far with picking out an expensive dress. The price was a hundred fifty dollars. The price immediately made her want to take the dress off and give it back to him, she didn't feel like she deserved this most of all. Liz knew she had to show him it before she told him it wasn't worth it.

She walked out the door and paused. "Ressler, you're doing too much. I don't know if I can handle you paying for this dress."

"Elizabeth, you look beautif-," Donald caught himself before he finished the word, "great."

Liz blushed, "Um... thank you."

"You're welcome, do you think you want the dress?"

"No, it's too much, like I said, I don't want you to become bankrupt because of me."

"You're not expensive, trust me on that, and you know what I'm going to buy you these outfits and that dress. Don't complain about it, I've got it covered." Don walked over and placed his hands on Liz's shoulders, lightly holding them. "Believe me, I'm trying to be kind." He kissed her forehead lightly and pulled away gently, but quickly.

Elizabeth blushed more than she did before. The kiss on her forehead made her world stop for a second. It made her notice he was really caring towards her and he really meant what he was doing. She hoped that she wasn't overanalyzing this too much.

"Let me change and you can pay for the outfits you picked out for me, then we can go."

"Sure thing." Ressler walked away and picked up the clothes resting on the chair beside the one he was in.

Liz changed as quickly as she could in order to get out of the store and onto the next.

She got out of the dressing room and noticed Donald waiting for her to give the dress to him so they can check out and head out. She gave it to him and started walking out of the dressing room portion of the store and towards the cash registers.

* * *

After five hours of constant looking through stores and admiring the city, Elizabeth and Donald left and headed home. They both felt tired and their bones ached the more they moved. The moment they got through the doors, the first thing they did was drop the bags from their hands to the floor. Never has a mission from work ended up making them feel this way, besides when Liz was drugged by The Stewmaker a while ago.

"Home." Liz walked through the door and leaned against the counter in the kitchen.

"Finally. Hopefully you have everything you need so that we don't have to go on another one of those trips for a while." Donald replied as he shut the door behind him.

She smiled at what he said to her, "Maybe I forgotten something."

"You better not, we just got back from all that traffic and dealing with a bunch of impatient cashiers." He covered his forehead with the back of his hand.

"I swear we didn't, we can go on another trip if I forgot something next week or some other time." Liz walked to Donald as she spoke.

"Good. What do you want for dinner? Do you think we should order out or do you want to see what I can probably cook up?"

"Hmm, maybe we can order out. I'd rather you not in more pain from standing and walking around. We did plenty of that today." Liz walked back to the counter, then turned to face Don again.

"Alright, any thing specific?" He grabbed his phone out of his right pocket.

"Maybe Chinese food?"

"Fine by me." He dialed the number into his phone and replied with the order.

As Donald made the order, it seemed strange to Liz hearing platter for two. She thought to herself that it seemed like they became close or something. It might may end up making the delivery guy think they're more than co-workers. She knew she didn't want that to happen, but if she wasn't in the kitchen when they arrive to deliver the food, maybe they wouldn't think they were together or that Donald was a hungry guy. Many thoughts ran through her head again, so she ended up getting up from the table and grabbing a few of the bags from the door and bringing them to her room.

* * *

Donald ended the call, and walked to Liz's room. He noticed her unpacking clothes and accessories from the bags from the shopping trip. The one thing he wanted to do was help her out. He walked passed the doorframe and stood next to Liz who's back was facing him.

"Keen, do you need any help?" He asked kindly.

Elizabeth got up from the floor, and stood in front of Ressler. "Sure, all I'm doing is removing my clothes from the countless number of bags we got today."

"I'll bring the rest of the bags in here and we can go through them until the delivery man gets here."

"That sounds great. Thank you, Ressler." She smiled then got back to her bag she was unpacking.

"You're so welcome." Donald said before he walked away from the room to get the rest of the bags.

The two started unpacking all the bags and separated the clothes into categories of what they were. Once they finished categorizing them, they started bringing them into the bathroom closet and placing them inside there. When they finished that, the food arrived just in time for them. Donald went up and paid the man and he brought the food to the table and set everything up for them both. Elizabeth came out of the closet and noticed the table was set to dine. Her face was in awe, as she sat down across Don.

"You pulled out all the stops for this, didn't you?" She asked.

"The best only for you." He replied.

Liz and Donald started eating away their dinner as soon as they both stopped talking and just focused on the food in front of them. To them, this bonding time definitely helped gain a better connection to each other. And they both realized it without it being spoken of.

**Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the last, and I apologize for re-uploading chapter 3 many times, I'm not very fond of my corrections to my own writing. See you guys soon with another fun filled chapter!**


	5. Nightmares

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Blacklist. I just love this pair of characters too much. That's all. Carry on.**

When they both were done with dinner, they both went their separate ways to get ready to sleep. Liz went to the closet in the bathroom and Donald walked towards his room. As Liz took her clothes from her closet and closed the door she bumped into Don's bare chest from behind her. She blushed before she turned around.

"Nice seeing you there," Liz giggled, and tried to keep a straight face.

"Nice seeing you too, need anything before I take a shower?" Donald asked.

She looked down at everything she had in her arms, then looked back to him"Hm, nope! Go right ahead, I'm going to get ready for bed and most likely I'll pass out when I get under my covers."

"If you need anything, just ask." He said, letting Liz walk to her room. He shut the door after he saw her turn the corner.

Liz changed into her newly purchased pajamas that Ressler bought for her. A navy long-sleeved shirt and matching satin pants. They made her feel like someone actually cared about her. The day was completely perfect, and something she'll remember for a long time. She walked over to the desk and turned off her light. The thing she hates to admit is that they have to go to work the next day as if nothings happened. As much as she'd love to tell Meera what happened, she knows it would cause her to lose her sense of being professional.

She slipped under the sheets, pulled the comforter over her shoulders, and turned onto her right side, facing the wall. Her eyes almost shut, until she heard steps toward the door frame.

"Liz," Donald said, looking over at her.

"Ressler, what's going on?" Liz asked, as she tossed over to the opposite side to see him.

"I just wanted to tell you goodnight, I'm going to sleep soon."

"Goodnight, Ress. Get some rest, it will keep you focused tomorrow."

"I'll try. Goodnight, Keen." He smiled before turning around and walking back to his room.

Liz turned back onto her side and shut her eyes.

* * *

"_Liz, pick one. Your family or your job." Tom stood across Liz with his arms crossed._

"_Tom, please don't do this, Tom, please." Liz pleaded._

"_Make up your mind, or I'm choosing for you." He glared at her._

"_Tom, you can't do tha-"_

"_I did__, now pick!" _

"_I can't do this right now Tom. I have to complete-"_

"_Another freaking case. What has this job done to you? Liz, I want to be in a normal family, and I know a family with you is never going to be normal."_

"_Tom, please don't do this. I love you so much, and I can't give up my job to be with you-"_

"_Oh, I see, you pick your job over us yet again. Liz, I'm going to file for divorce and you can have your freedom of being at work for the rest of your life."_

"_Tom, no! I want both, I still want us and my job. Is it that hard to understand?"_

"_Lizzie, I already made up the decision for you. You picked your job over us."_

"_Tom, I never meant to-" _

_Tom slapped Liz harshly across her face, leaving a mark on her cheek. She cupped her cheek and attempted to run away from Tom's grip, but she fell to the ground by him holding onto her arm tightly._

* * *

"Elizabeth!" Ressler rushed to crouch beside Lizzie, who was shaking from the uncontrollable feelings she felt from the dream. He held her shoulder, attempting to keep her still.

Liz opened her eyes wide, and took in a few deep breaths, hoping to calm herself down. "Wha-t jus-t happ-ened?" She felt the ground beneath her, turning her head to see Donald looking at her.

Ressler touched her hair, trying to move her bangs out of her eyes, "I heard a thud from your room, and I came here. I saw that you were shaking and I didn't know if you were hurt. It sounded like you took a fall, and you did."

She blinked her eyes, then looked back up at him. "I'm fine, it was just my dream. Don't worry about it."

"Liz, it wasn't a dream, it was another nightmare. I know that you wouldn't have fell to the floor and started shaking if it were a dream."

Liz got up and sat up onto her bed once again, "Ressler, it was a dream, trust me on that." She replied defensively. "A happy dream..." She muttered.

"Don't think I didn't hear that, Liz. I know you had a nightmare. You don't need to cover it up with a lie. You can tell me about it. I'm willing to hear and I won't tell anyone about it." He got up from the ground and sat beside Her.

She moved away, "You better not."

"I promise." Donald looked at Liz sincerely.

Lizzie gathered her thoughts, then started again, "It was about Tom. It was one of our arguments before the divorce. It was the first of the many. It was once I got home and he faced me with a decision that I couldn't make. Instead, he made it for me. After he did, he hit me for the first time." Liz started to tear up. In order to hide this feeling, she put her hands to her face.

Ressler moved close to her and put his arms around Liz again, hoping to calm her down. "Lizzie, it's over now, you have nothing to worry about." He whispered to her.

"The fear of him, it's been scaring me. He's been the monst-" She cried into her palms more.

"Liz, shh, he's gone. He's never going to lay a finger on you again. I promise that."

Liz moved out of his gentle grip and sat in her normal state, still in tears. "My mind doesn't need to keep me up with these horrible things, it's hurting me."

"I know, I feel the same way, you don't deserve these thoughts." Donald stopped for a moment. "Can I tell you something?"

"Go ahead." She said, wiping the tears away from her face to look at Ressler.

"I've had similar things happen to me. When I was with Audrey, the last conversation I had with her when we were together, hanging by a thread, was very similar to that. She made the decision for me if I wanted to be with her of still be chasing Red. It was dreadful. It left me broken. She basically made up my mind for me and left herself. It tore me up inside, and I never have been the same after that."

Liz was shocked by hearing that from him. She never thought they'd have anything in common besides the job they have. It made her notice he was broken. Never a completely perfect person.

"Donald, I never knew that. I'm so sorry." She looked down at her hands, as if she broke something that couldn't be fixed.

He gently moved over to her and held her hands gently. "It's okay. It's in the past, I don't worry about it much anymore. Sure, once she left it made me a wreck, but I broke through that. I think you can do the same."

"Really?"

"Yes, you certainly can. I know so."

Liz turned around and hugged Ressler, causing his back to fall onto her bed. "Thank you." She backed off him and rolled beside him.

"You're welcome." Donald got up slowly from Liz's bed and headed out of her room.

"Ressler, I have one more thing to ask." Liz spoke up as she sat on her bed like before.

He walked back to her door frame, "Keen, what's it?"

"Can I stay in your room tonight? To keep the nightmares away? That's all."

Ressler nodded and waited for her to reach him to follow him into his room. As Liz stood in his room, she admired the way the room looked, it looked the same as it did when she changed in here before. The room was tan and the comforter matched the color of the walls. The dresser was clear over towards the closet and they were on the same side of each other. Her eyes looked at everything quickly until Donald started talking again.

"You can sleep on the left side of the bed, the right is usually where I sleep, so if I end up on the floor, you can move over to that side, but most likely that won't happen." He chuckled to himself as he got onto his side of the bed.

"Okay, I got it. I don't tend to move unless a nightmare ends up making me fall off the bed." Liz smiled as she got onto her side.

Donald turned off the lamp on his nightstand and turned over to see Liz's face. "I hope you don't have another nightmare tonight."

"No promises." She grinned then closed her eyes.

"Goodnight, Liz." He said before his back faced her.

"Goodnight, Ressler."

**Author's Note: I'm sorry if I made this happen too fast, but I couldn't help myself. Please keep your eyes out for a new chapter by Valentines Day or something...**


	6. Misleading Caller

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Blacklist.**

Donald woke up, realizing his arm was wrapped around Elizabeth's torso, gently holding her against him. He knew he crossed another line in their relationship right there. It scared him that they were becoming too close in such a short amount of time. He was supposed to be the "Perfect Agent," not someone who was close to Elizabeth Keen. He knew this was going to change how they both work together. She turned his world upside down, and it wasn't much of a bad thing. It still bothered him that everything was happening too quickly. Next thing he thinks may happen is that he's going to end up being married to her. The thoughts couldn't phase his mind. It scared him deeply. He hoped that she can quickly slip out of his life before they get too close, because he still has feelings towards Audrey. He can never admit that to himself or Liz.

He pulled his arm from around Liz and got up without disrupting her. He hoped that they wouldn't end up breaking anymore boundaries and become anything more than partners at work. It hurt for him to think that, but it was the only thing standing in his way.

As Ressler approached the closet in his room, he heard noise from his bed, he looked back and noticed Liz just tossed in her sleep. He thought he woke her up at first. That made his heart beat fast in his chest. He grabbed his navy suit, still in a plastic cover with a pair of his shoes and socks.

More tossing and turning from Elizabeth caused Donald to freeze in his position.

"Ressler..." She sleepily uttered out of her mouth.

"Yes?" He turned around, trying not to make any sound. He looked to see that Liz was still asleep. She was. _She just talked in her sleep. I wonder if that's a common thing for her. _He thought to himself.

Ressler tiptoed out of the room into the bathroom, closing the door slowly, hoping not to make anymore noise.

* * *

"_Lizzie," Red spoke to Liz into the phone. "you can't let this get to you. I've warned you plenty of times."_

"_You did, but I was ignorant. I never wanted to believe what you said." Liz sighed, putting the phone down on her desk, leaving it on speaker phone._

"_I am perfectly aware. Tom was never the one you should have let into your life." _

"_I know. He was a forceful, abusive, and abrasive person to me, yet, I wonder how he acts towards everyone else." She shook in her chair._

"_You did the right thing, you went along with the divorce and got away from him." _

"_I guess you're right." She paused before speaking again, "Red, did you know that he was going to be this way to me?"_

"_Lizzie, that's a hard question to answer. I hate to say this, but I can't explain that now." _

"_Red, please, I need to know." _

"_Lizzie, I can't explain it now, we have to meet in person in order for me to tell you it all."_

"_Red! I need to know now!" _

"_Listen to me, I'll tell you about it later."_

_Liz hung up the phone and put her head on her desk before sobbing herself to sleep._

* * *

Ressler walked back into his room, all ready for work, and noticing Liz was still asleep. He was debating in his head, whether or not to wake her up. He knew he had to, because she might be the cause of them being late to work. He walked over to her and knelt beside her side of the bed.

"Keen. Keen, wake up," Donald pushed her bangs in her eyes back, then backed away from her.

Elizabeth smiled, then turned to the other side, having her back facing Don.

He knew it wasn't going to be easy waking her up, "Liz, you need to get up. We're gonna be late for work."

"We have plenty of time. Don't worry about it." She muttered.

Ressler rolled his eyes then got up from crouching beside her. "I mean it, you need to get up." He flicked on the light switch on the wall, hoping the light will wake her up.

Liz grunted, and pulled the covers over her head. "Ressler, it's too early. Give me ten more minutes."

He walked out of the room, leaving the light on. He wasn't going to make it easy for her by staying in there. Instead he walked into the kitchen and made two cups of coffee, giving it one last shot to wake Liz up.

Liz heard the machine working, "I'm up, I'm up! Give me a thirty minutes to get ready, and then we can go."

"I knew it would work." Don muttered to himself, leaving a grin on his mouth.

"I heard that!" Liz said running to the bathroom and closing the door behind her.

As Liz got ready, Ressler looked all around the apartment for his files, then realizing he left them in Liz's office. The one thing he hoped was that Cooper didn't collect them. That was the last thing he wanted to happen. They were tracking another one of Red's Blacklisters, and he didn't have all the completed information on the one they're looking for now.

"Liz!" Don knocked on the bathroom door.

"What do you need? I need a few more minutes!" She replied.

"Do you know where my files are?"

"On my desk at work!"

"Thanks, I just wasted my time on that." He said under his breath, walking back into the kitchen to finish his coffee.

As he took his last sip of his coffee, Liz walked out of the bathroom, looking like she did the first day they met. It made Donald blink a few times, then looked clearly at her, really wishing he didn't look like a dork with his jaw dropped to the floor. He put his coffee cup on the side of the sink. He had to have the thoughts from yesterday's adventure go away.

"Let's go. You said we're gonna be late." Liz said, pulling her coat over her arms, then grabbing her coffee from the counter and phone from the table.

"Okay." Ressler grabbed his briefcase and keys before heading out the door behind Liz.

Donald let Liz into her side of the vehicle, then shut her door, then he walked to his side and did the same.

"When we get back to work, we can't speak of this." Ressler spoke, putting the car in reverse, backing the car out of the parking spot.

Elizabeth nodded, confirming she heard what he said. "Yeah, and I highly doubt anyone will notice the clothes."

"Unless they're Meera." He replied putting the car in drive and heading on their way to work.

She looked up at him, "Ha-ha, very funny."

* * *

The two walked into the office in varying times, making sure nobody could tell Liz was staying with Ressler.

"Agent Keen, do you or Agent Ressler have the report on Red's new criminal?" Cooper asked Liz, causing her to stop walking to her office.

"It's in our office, and it's completed. I promise to get it to you when I find it." Liz said.

"Great, I'll be looking forward to it, Agent Keen."

Liz and Cooper parted ways, walked to her office and started looking for the file Ressler dropped off before they had their chat. It wasn't on his desk or her's. She started to get a little frantic, it had all the information they needed for this case. _Where the hell did he freaking put it? Ever since I saw what his apartment looks like, I thought he'd be organized everywhere. _She thought to herself.

She turned around as Ressler walked through the doorway, "Did you find the report?"

"No, and I thought it was on your desk? Where is it?" Liz got back to searching for it in drawers in her desk after looking in Donald's.

"Keen, I found it. It was in your file sender outside your office." He held it up in his right hand, showing Liz.

"Well, I guess we're in the clear." She got up from the floor, from when she was looking in the drawers.

"Yeah, might as well give it to Cooper instead of keeping him waiting." Donald walked out of the room to give the file to Cooper.

Liz sat at her desk and heard a ring from her phone in her coat pocket. It was an unknown number. The first thought that went through her mind was that it was Reddington.

"Red, what do you want?" Liz answered.

"_It's not Red, it's Tom." _Tom replied.

"Tom? What's so important? I'm at work." She whispered.

"_Liz, I thought I'd let you know you have more things here."_

"Tom, not now. I'm at work, like I said before, delete me from everything. I have enough on my plate right now."

"_And I heard you were having an affair with that Donald Ressler guy." _

"I am not, wherever you heard that, it's a lie."

"_Hmm, didn't I see you guys shopping yesterday?"_

"Mind your own business."

"_So I see you're with him, you moved on quickly."_

"Ressler and I are just co-workers, nothing more than that."

"_Whatever you say, Lizzie. You better come by soon or your stuff will be sent to charity." _Tom hung up the line.

Elizabeth crossed her arms, put them on her desk and put her head down on them. _What caused him to tell me this? I thought he deleted me from everything and didn't want any connection with me. I'm already over today, and it hasn't even started yet. _The thoughts started boiling in Liz's mind, and it made her head throb.

Donald walked back into their office, noticing Liz's state. He hoped he didn't have to see her like this again. It hurt to see her upset. He walked over to her again.

"Liz, what's wrong?" He asked.

"Check my recent calls." She said.

"Okay." Ressler picked up the phone from the desk and looked at the screen. The first name on the list was an unknown number. "Red called?"

"No, Tom." She sobbed into her sleeves.

"What did _that bastard _want?"

"He told me he has more of my things at his house, and he thinks we're having an affair. I've had enough of his drama, Donald. I want this all to end. I thought it all ended when we got divorced." Liz got up from her desk to stand face to face with Don.

"We should go get those, and he needs to stop bothering you. You've put up with enough from him."

"No, it's fine, you can stay in the car when we drive there. If he sees you there with me, he may think we're together. I'd rather not cause anymore issues by his poor misunderstanding."

"If he dare lays a finger on you, I will step in."

When Liz heard those words from Donald again, it made her freeze, she didn't want him to get hurt because of her ex-husband. She'd rather face her demons herself. "You really don't have to, it's completely fine. I can handle him."

"I've seen the scars, you don't need to get hurt anymore by him."

"Nor do _you_ need to get hurt again. I think I'll be fine."

"Okay, but I'll still wait for you in the car, and if he makes a move to hurt you, I will back you up."

"Fine." Liz sighed, "After work, we're going to pick the box up, then we'll head home."

"Fine by me." Ressler said, before turning away to walk out of the office.

Liz got back to work on the case, alone and focused on the discovery about what the criminal has been doing to keep busy.

**Author's note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'm aware it was very slow and boring. When I wrote this, I had little to no inspiration to write, but I knew this had to be up Valentine's Day. I promise I'll post the next chapter by next weekend.**


	7. Picking Up the Rest

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Blacklist.**

Ressler and Liz left the office at around four to get the last box that Tom had of Liz's belongings. Donald didn't like that Liz had to pick things up from the man who hurt her. No matter what happens, he knows he's going to be there right behind her, as much as she doesn't want him there.

Donald turned onto their street, and Liz directed him on where to park. Right in front of Tom's vehicle.

"Ressler, I'm going to be fine, don't you worry your blond head." She said, running her right hand though his blond hair, messing up his glorified hair.

When Liz pulled her arm away and exited the car, Don rolled his window down, "I'm still gonna worry!" He grinned, rolling the glass back up.

Liz walked up the stairs, and knocked on the door. It seemed like she waited a few minutes until the door was opened by Tom. He seemed to look different since the last time Don saw him in the Post Office. He looked like a finer version of who he was before, but he still had the vibe of a shady man. Donald kept his eye on them very closely until Liz was invited inside by Tom fast, Ressler couldn't hold back his feelings now, he unbuckled his seatbelt and ran out of the car to get inside the apartment. He was determined not to let someone he cared about get hurt.

He opened the door, fueled with anger. Liz was passed out, collapsed to the floor, because of Tom throwing a few punches to her face. There were marks of red in the places on her cheek he hit. Donald was even more angry to see Tom with such a smug look on his face after what he did.

"What the hell did you do to her?" Don growled, clenching his fists together.

Tom inched closer to Ressler, "None of your business, Captain America."

"If you don't explain this, I am willing to show you what you did to her, what made her feel much pain."

"Oh, I'm so scared! An FBI agent's going to beat me up! Ooh, so frightening!" Sarcasm rolled out of Tom's mouth.

"You're done." Donald pushed Tom by his shoulders against the wall behind Tom.

The first punch was thrown by Tom unexpectedly at Don's side, then Ressler gave him a more harsh one back to his face. Donald punched Tom around until Tom got dizzy from all the hits toward his face. He fell down to the floor, causing him to pass out. Just before Don was done beating Tom up, Liz started to regain consciousness again. She didn't bother pulling the two apart, especially with what Tom has put her through. Ressler turned around, knowing Tom wasn't going to start anything, and helped Liz up from the ground.

"Keen, you okay?" He asks, holding her face up to see her.

"I'm fine, thank you." Liz coughed out, pulling his hand away from her face and putting it on her shoulder.

"I'm going to bring you to the car, and then I'll get your box." Donald replied, moving his hand towards Liz's ribcage gently, guiding her down the stairs, taking their time, step by step.

"Be careful. I know you beat Tom up, but knowing him, he might make a quick recovery." Liz looked at Ressler's face as he helped her into the car.

"I promise, all I want is for you to be okay." He looked her face closely, before shutting the door.

Donald walked back up to the dreaded apartment, and saw Tom was still passed out. He hoped he would remain there for a while. To him, he felt Tom deserved it. While Don grabbed the box beside the door, he heard Tom move. That freaked him out a bit more, to make him want to leave the place quickly. He closed the door silently behind him and ran back to the car.

"I hope you have all your things, I don't think I want to come back here to get anything else again." Donald said, putting the box down in the backseat, then getting into the driver's seat.

"I hope I do, I'd rather not deal with him anymore." Liz said as Don put the car in reverse to back out of the spot.

"You never deserved the hurt he caused you." He put the gear shift in drive to head all the way back to the apartment.

* * *

The moment they walked inside the apartment, it seemed like they were back at the beginning again, but now they both have viewed the perspective of what Liz has been put through. The situation has brought harm, but it brought them closer.

Liz walked to the bathroom and dropped her box into the closet, hoping to leave the mess for tomorrow. She turned to the bathroom mirror and noticed a bruise on her right cheek, swollen as if it just happened. Her fingers glided across the bruise, reminding her that someone saved her before Tom could have ended her life. That someone being the unexpected, Donald Ressler.

"Liz," Donald walked slowly into the bathroom to see she was examining the bruise.

She turned quickly to see Don, letting go of her cheek, "Donald, you need anything?"

"No, I just wanted to say something. Until today, I never realized what you've had to put up with. I feel bad for letting him do this to you." Don walked to her, and wrapped his arms around her, embracing her gently.

"You don't need to say sorry, I chose that lifestyle, and he mistreated me." Liz put her arms around his neck and nestled her head on his neck, while she tried to hold back the tears behind her eyes.

"I feel like I should apologize, you never deserved it. You're too much of a good person to get hurt."

Liz really wanted to say something back, but all she could do was let the tears fall and hold onto Ressler a little tighter. He was being so kind to her, and treating her like Tom wouldn't. She didn't want to let go of him, she just wanted to be there with him, stuck in that moment for a long time. That made her realize Donald was her hero.

"Ressler." She spoke.

He pulled out of her embrace a little to see her face. "What's wrong?" He let go of her, and wiped the tears that were falling on her face.

"Thank you for saving me." Elizabeth hugged him once again.

Don was a little caught off guard by the second hug, but he put his arms around her again. "You're welcome."

They both pulled away slowly and walked in different directions. Donald went to his room and Liz stayed in the bathroom, looking through her closet. As Don closed his door, he heard a noise from his phone. He pulled the phone out of his pants pocket and noticed the screen was lit up. The name across the middle of the screen read "Audrey." Ressler was shocked. It was someone he wasn't expecting, he thought since she left his life, they wouldn't speak again. His thoughts, shaken in disbelief caused him to check what the message read.

"_Donnie,_

_Audrey here. I've missed you a lot, and I'm not sure if you knew that. I wanted to talk to you, maybe sometime this week? For coffee or dinner at most, no interruptions. I just want to clear things up and start over on new terms. If you're available, please tell me. _

_-AB"_

Ressler had no clue she still had feelings until this moment for him. Something about that message left him curious why she wanted to catch up. This message was going to be the one thing keeping him up all night and he knew it.

**Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this short chapter. Blacklisters don't have much longer to wait until next week's episode!**


	8. Information Tactic

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Blacklist, if I did Tom's secret affair would be exposed by now.**

"_Audrey, honey I just got home." Ressler sighed as he walked through the door of the apartment._

"_Ressler, you have avoided me for the fourth time this week, what is wrong with you keeping your promises?" Audrey spoke into the phone, her face covered in tears from crying._

"_Aud, I thought we were having dinner here-" Donald replied anxiously._

"_I've made plans for dinner at the diner downtown, and you fail to show up!" She yelled._

"_Audrey, I'm serious, I didn't know-"_

"_You know what? I'm moving out. When you finally make up your mind on whether you want to be with me or stay up long nights looking for Red, tell me. I'm done with all your shit." Audrey ended the call swiftly, and left the phone booth. _

"_Hey! Listen to me! I have to explain!" Ressler shouted at his phone, not realizing Audrey hung up._

"_You've got to be kidding me." He murmured as he slid down the door, and sat with his back resting on the door._

* * *

The dream felt so real to Ressler, as if it happened yesterday. Where he was left by the person he cared so much about. He looked at his phone to see if what happened last night were real. It was. It made him feel like the dream was trying to make him realize what she may end up doing because of the past. She might end up breaking his heart all over like she did the first time.

"Ressler, coffee is waiting for you on the counter!" Liz knocked on his door, hoping it would alarm him, unlike the clock.

Donald slumped from his bed, and grabbed his suit out of his closet before he replied back. "Okay, I'll be out there in a minute or two."

Liz was already made up, she woke up two hours before Don and she knew she should do a kind thing for him since he's done so many nice things for her. Just something like that, she hoped, would make him feel okay. She didn't hope for the worst towards him at all. He had brought her into his life, and brought her up from the ground, she hoped he wouldn't have to feel the pain like she did.

Don walked out his room, with his hair in a mess, but put together besides that. This brought a smile to Liz's face, and then she looked down at her coffee cup in her hands.

"Good morning to you too," Donald said, walking over to sit next to Liz.

"I hope the coffee is the way you'd like it."

"It is, thanks," he said, taking a sip of his coffee, then setting the cup down on the table. "Why are you up so early?"

"We have work, I might as well, get up early unlike the day before. Get into better habits, I guess." Liz said, looking back up at Donald. "I heard you talking in your sleep last night, what happened?"

Ressler tensed up. He didn't know what to say. It wasn't much of a secret that he still loved Audrey, but the thoughts of her ran through his head all night, so that's why Liz probably heard him. "Just her."

"Who?" She asked.

"Audrey." He sighed.

"What was the dream or nightmare about?"

"It was the last time we spoke, and it was just like when she broke off the engagement."

"Oh," Liz paused, "I'm sorry about that." She looked back down at her coffee cup again.

"Liz, it's fine, you weren't the one who caused the nightmare, no need to apologize."

"Do you know what caused the nightmare?"

"Well, she texted me last night. Before I fell asleep."

"Was it something bad, or?"

"She invited me to go have coffee or have dinner with her, with no interruptions. I bet she was referring to me chasing Red. Does she realize she's a married woman who doesn't need me around anymore?"

"Ressler, just because she's married, doesn't mean you guys can't be acquaintances." She said, placing her hand on Ressler's shoulder, hoping to calm him down.

"I know, but knowing her, she might try something to make me want to be with her again."

"Well, whatever happens, happens, and you'll only know what will happen if you go."

"I know, but I never told her I could."

"Oh. It's never too late to text her back."

"But to her, time ruins everything."

"Ressler, when you decide whether or not you want to go, tell her. I'm not making up your mind for you."

"I guess we should get going to work." Ressler said, trying to avoid the topic.

"Sure, whatever." Liz rolled her eyes as she got up from the table to get her coat from the coat rack on the wall.

"You can drive this morning. I'm okay with that." He got up and brought the empty to the counter.

"Good, I have your keys." She said, shaking the keys in her hand.

* * *

Once Liz and Ressler got to work, they knew this day wouldn't consist of therapy speeches or off topic nonsense, especially when they still have to track down this criminal they've been looking up for a few days. They both walked their separate ways, Elizabeth to her office to gather all her files, and Don to go talk to Cooper.

As Liz got to her office, she saw Red sitting at her desk.

"Lizzie, hows everything going?" Red smiled as she looked confused.

"I'm fine, I need to get everything prepared to capture this guy. If you're interested in a chat, you'll have to find me at a better time." Liz dropped her bag beside her desk as she crossed her arms in front of her chest, as Red was in the way of her work space.

"Well, I have something you might want, more secrets about your past, but you'll have to do something for me to make it worth while."

Liz rolled her eyes at his sly comment, "Red, I'm serious, no more bets, I want to know what it is about my past that you know."

"Like I said, you have to do something for me."

She gave in, "What do you want me to do for_ you_?"

"It's not just benefiting me, it's also benefiting for _you_."

"I don't want to know how it is for me, just tell me what you want me to do."

"Fine, apparently Audrey is coming back to Agent Ressler right?"

"I don't care about her Red, she belongs to Ressler. If this is a bet to do with him, I don't want anything to do with it."

"Lizzie, dear, I know you care a lot about Ressler, you can't hide it."

"Seriously, Red! I don't care about him! I'm very thankful that he let me stay with him, but we're not anything more than co-workers."

"Whatever you say. Back to what I'm asking, I want you to go with Agent Ressler on his 'date' with Audrey."

"Oh hell no, I do not want to become a third wheel in a date that she asked for no interruptions."

"Come on, Lizzie, I don't think she'll mind."

Liz walked to the filing cabinet, not facing Red. "No, she will, and Ressler wouldn't want me there."

"Lizzie, you can also do this. Stay home, wait for him to leave, then once he's gone, get a ride to go to the restaurant they're going to and then you can crash the date. I can supply you the ride there if you want."

"Absolutely not." She retorted, turning back around fast.

Ressler walked into the office, noticing there seems to be a bit of tension between Red and Liz. It made him a little confused, but he didn't decide to question it.

"Keen, do you have everything from this case, besides the report?" Donald asked, looking at her, standing at his side of the desk.

"Yeah, let me get the file."

"Take your time." He started tapping his fingers on the desk, showing that he's impatient.

"So, Agent Ressler, how's Audrey Bidwell?" Red said.

"Fine. It doesn't really matter, nor do you even care."

"You're right, I don't care much about her. I just hope you guys are alright."

"Okay, so how are we going to capture The Lodger?" Liz said, getting up from the bottom shelf of the cabinet, the folder in her hands.

"Lizzie, you and Agent Ressler will have to go undercover to get him. He's usually in ally ways around here, and he's not too hard to find. He claims he's homeless, but obviously he is not. What you'll have to do is say you're going to bring him home, but really you're bringing him back here. It's not hard, but knowing him, it will be."

"Great." She muttered under her breath.

"So when do you think we should do this?" Don asked.

"Soon. I heard from him that he's going to try to go to another state after he kills enough families."

"I guess we're going to get him today then." Don said as he walked over to Liz.

Donald took the file out of Liz's hands and looked through it quickly to see if there was new information in there he didn't know about. Nothing new, and that was good to him.

"Nice seeing you, Red. Thanks for the help."

"Not a problem, also, good luck with Audrey tonight." He winked before the pair left the room.

* * *

After Liz and Ressler arrived to one of the ally ways nearby, they realized The Lodger committed suicide. He seemed to bleed to death on the concrete. It was a surprise that this criminal gave up so soon from killing families to rob their homes. Elizabeth was really hoping to profile him, but there's no chance of that happening now. Instead they reported back to the Post Office that the man had died before he would have been sent to jail for killing and robbing people. By the time everything was put into the system, it was perfect time for them to go back to the apartment, and get ready for the long, awaited date for Donald and Audrey.

Liz didn't want to follow through with Red's conniving plan to become a third wheel at the date, but she knew it would be the only thing to get some more information from Red. Liz sat in the living room, waiting for Donald to leave so that she could leave shortly after him.

Don entered the living room with his tie undone. "Liz, can you help me for a second?"

She looked up at him, then walked over to face him, "What do you need?"

"Can you tie this for me?" He pointed to his tie.

"Yeah, sure. I used to do this for Tom all the time." She grabbed the tie, and looped it around a few times until it looked right.

"Thanks," Ressler coughed.

"No problem." Liz said sitting back in the couch.

"Liz, what was Red talking about before I came in today?"

This struck a cord to Liz. She wanted to lie to him, but she knew there were consequences for that. She knew being honest with him was her only option.

"Red wanted me to be a third wheel on your date with Audrey." She sighed.

Donald didn't know how to feel about that, he didn't know if he should be angry or upset. Either way, he knew it wasn't the time or place to show his true emotions.

"I never wanted to go through with it. He was baiting me with information about my past in order for me to do so."

"Did he ever tell you why?"

"No. I was about to ask, but I never did."

Don took a deep breath, "Well, if you want to join us, I promise she won't try anything to get rid of you. I'll just tell her some excuse of why you're there."

"Well, I think you guys need your time to each other. I don't need to be apart of that equation."

"Liz, it's okay. I don't mind." Don walked over to the couch and sat beside Elizabeth.

"It's okay, I don't need to go. I'll probably find out more things about my past another time."

He held Liz's face with his hands, "Lizzie, you don't need to stay here alone, I'm inviting you."

She held Don's wrists gently, "Don, I mean it. I don't need to go."

"Liz, I mean it too, you should come with me."

"Really? I don't want to end up ditched."

"Yes, and you won't, I swear on it." He let go of her face and put out his hand towards Liz.

"Okay, only because you promise." She shook his hand firmly, then let go.

"One more thing, do you still have that long blue dress I helped pick out for you?" Donald asked.

"Yeah, yeah I do."

"You should wear that."

"You think that'd be appropriate? I'm only accompanying you on your date with Audrey, I'm not your date."

"I'm aware, but the restaurant she might have picked out is probably fancy, and not so casual."

"Okay, give me ten minutes." Liz said, getting up from the couch to run to the bathroom.

"Okay!" Donald yelled from the living room. Leaving him with a smile on his face.

* * *

Liz stepped out of the bathroom, fixing her right shoe on her foot, her hand on the wall, trying to keep her balance. She put her foot back on level ground, and stepped in the living room. Donald heard the footsteps, and looked up as she was standing in front of him on the couch. His jaw dropped as he looked at her from toe to her face. All put together.

"You look gorgeous." He said looking at her face.

Liz blushed and covered her face, "Thanks."

"Are you all good?" He got up from the couch.

"Yeah, let's get going!" She ran to the coat rack to grab her black jacket, then ran out the door.

"Remember, I'm driving!" Donald grabbed the keys and his wallet before closing the door to the apartment.

**Author's Note: I hope you guys enjoyed this long awaited chapter. It took a bit of motivation for me to write this up, especially with the new episode. (I loved the part of Madeline Pratt where Donald and Liz talked.) **


	9. The Worst Gathering in a Long Time

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Blacklist. **

Elizabeth was so excited to be going somewhere instead of being alone. She had no nerves of meeting Audrey, she seemed like the woman that Donald would be happy with. All that Liz wanted was to see him happy as what he seemed when he talked about her before he took off from work. She knew some how she'd have to meet her, and now couldn't be any sooner.

Donald hoped that Liz would be welcomed by Audrey, and not tossed to the curve. That was the only thing he hoped for on this occasion. He had no idea of how she could be reacting. All he wanted was for the two women in his life to get along. Nothing more, nothing less.

As the two entered the golden restaurant, the tension inside Liz kept her from walking any further. She froze as she noticed the brunette at the table with three empty chairs around it. Donald kept walking as Liz stood back. He walked to Audrey with a gleaming smile on his face, seeing as she has been waiting. He stood in front of the table, facing her and she immediately got up to embrace him. The scene looked like something someone would see a soldier returning home to see his loved ones, minus the tears. As Audrey and Donald were hugging, Don noticed Liz was still at the entrance way. It started to bother him, he wanted her there with him, and hoped Audrey was okay with that.

"I'll be back, wait a minute." Donald smiled at Audrey as he pulled away.

"Okay, I'll be here." Audrey nodded with a grin on her face. She was happy to see that he shown up. She walked back to her seat as he ran to the entrance.

Liz couldn't phase the thoughts running through her head at the moment. She felt like she was intruding on them. She wanted to run far, far away, only not to disturb Audrey and Donald. It scared her for thinking this way. She wanted nothing more to make Donald happy. Her eyes closed as Donald walked up to her.

"Keen, it's alright, she's _not_ going to hurt you." Ressler put his hands on her shoulders, holding them lightly.

Elizabeth opened her eyes, a tear slipped slowly down her face, "I can't do this, you deserve your guys' time together. I don't need to be apart of this. I'll meet you back home." She pulled away from him.

"Liz, I want you here." He replied, hoping she'd reconsider.

"No, you're saying that, hoping I'd stay." She backed away a little more, wiping her face gently with her ring finger.

"Lizzie. I'm serious. I want you to meet her." He held his hand out towards Liz, hoping she'd accept it.

She hesitated, the nerves were cluttering her mind. She had no hopes of meeting her, she wanted to go back to the apartment alone, to cry. She's had enough on her mind and she doesn't need anything more or less.

"Ressler, I want to go home. I don't want to interfere with this. I don't give a shit about the information Red's withholding from me. I just want to get out of here." She backed up against the door.

"Keen," Don walked up to Liz, and held her face, hoping she'd calm down. "I want you here. I don't care if Audrey doesn't. I'd rather you here."

Lizzie heard him clearly, but she'd rather not go into detail of his words. She knew for herself it would be better not to believe him. "Prove it." She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Donald had no clue how to prove he wanted her there, but he didn't know how to prove it to her. He drew a blank. All he hoped was that this didn't cross too many boundaries. The one thing he knew that would prove something was this.

He took a breath, closed his eyes, and slowly pressed his lips against Liz's. His only intention of doing so was to leave the impression on her to make her realize he cares very much about her.

This was not what Liz expected at all, but she seemed not to mind it. His lips on her's made her feel a bit calmer. All she wanted was to be in that moment for longer than what it seemed. Her arms fell to her sides before the gentle kiss was over.

Donald pulled away, but not too far from her, still holding her face. His eyes opened to see a slight smile on Elizabeth's face. It caused him to grin back. "Please stay here." He replied gliding his thumb across Liz's face.

She looked down, "I'm not sure, weren't you here to get back with Audrey?"

"I was only here for a friendly dinner, that's all." He said, lifting Liz's chin up a little.

"And you still want me here?"

"Yes. Would you mind accompanying me?" Donald let go of her cheek, and held his hand out towards her like a gentleman would.

"I'm not sure if I should."

"Please, I promise she won't hurt you."

Liz took his hand, "Okay." She whispered to him as she looked up at his face.

The two walked back to the table together, and Audrey became shocked as she saw them standing side by side. To her this was going against her message, and it started to make her frustrated. All she wanted was a private dinner between her and a "good friend." All she wanted was to do was scream at Ressler, but she knew killing them with kindness was the only thing she can do.

"Donnie, who is _that_?" Audrey said, glaring at Elizabeth, with a fake smile plastered on her face.

"Please don't start, this is Elizabeth, she's my co-worker." Don paused, then pointed to Audrey, "Liz, this is Audrey."

The tension at the table grew.

"Audrey, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." Liz replied, sitting down at the table.

"Yeah... I wish I could say the same to you." She rolled her eyes.

"I've heard plenty of good things from Donald about you."

"Well, of course. I'm _his_ lovely girlfriend." Audrey flipped her hair with her hand.

Liz and Donald were shocked. Don never claimed they were together.

"Wait, what?" Don shook his head.

"We're still together. We always were."

"Okay, Audrey, you've gone mad." He admitted blatantly.

"No, no, no. We're still together, aren't we Donnie?" Her lips curled as she finished the sentence.

Liz was confused, and she immediately wanted to forget that kiss and leave the table. Instead, she kept put. All she hoped was for an explanation.

"Okay, stop calling me Donnie, also, we've been done. For a long time. Get that through your head." Donald was pushed over the edge.

"Well, honey, I've missed you a lot. After this _gathering_, we should get back to my place and do what we always used to."

"Okay, I've had enough of this. You said this dinner was just a way to "catch up," do I see us catching up? No. You're acting like a fool, and I hope you see that."

"I'm only a fool over you, I texted you to come here without _her_. Like I said, no interruptions. She's an interruption."

All Audrey would do was twist his words around to make her seem not as she is. All she wanted was to be back in Donald's arms once again.

"You know what, I didn't come here to try to get back with you. I came here to introduce my co-worker to you, catch up, and enjoy a much desired meal. Absolutely _nothing_ more than that."

"Oh I see, you only came here to introduce your girlfriend to me. Well, you did that, now she can go."

"I'm not his girlfriend." Liz snapped.

"Ooh, she speaks!"

"You do not want to mess with me." Elizabeth stood up from her seat, clenching her fists.

"Liz," Donald held her wrist, trying to bring her back down to her seat. "Don't bother. She's just going to piss you off." He whispered.

She took her hand out of his grip, "Audrey, if that's even your real name, why are you trying to get him back into your heart-breaking arms? You're just going to toss him out again."

Audrey got up in Liz's face, "I'm not going to do that. I think I'll try to fix his life again, that's all, and maybe even give him a little pleasure, unlike you."

"You know what, we are not together. We only work together."

"As in, work together, _work together_?"

"I cannot deal with this right now. You are driving me up the wall."

"Nice seeing you, Beth!"

Liz walked away from the table, rolling her eyes. The fire inside of her was getting bigger and bigger. All she wanted to do was murder Audrey. She knew it wouldn't leave a good outcome, but that was what she wanted deep down inside. Although, it'd make Red happy, she knew she'd get in trouble with her job.

As Liz approached the door, Donald was running behind her. He caught up to her as she walked through the first door and nearly got hit with it.

"Liz, wait." Donald took a hold of Liz's wrist.

She turned around to face him, with tears streaming down her face, wetting down her make-up. "Why aren't you in there, with your _girlfriend_?"

"She's not my girlfriend." Don let go of her wrist, "She's just a charity case. I wish I never came down here in the first place."

"That's exactly how I feel. She's a freaking drama queen." Liz let the door close behind her.

"I personally don't know how I dealt with her for so many years."

"Maybe it was only because you didn't like being alone."

Donald never considered that reason before until now. "Yeah. I can see that."

"Ressler, do you want to go back to the apartment and eat dinner there? Cause we sure as hell missed that while we were in this restaurant."

"Sure." Donald replied holding the door for Liz and then himself.

* * *

On the silent ride home, it calmed them both down. No obnoxious Audrey getting in the way, just them and the silence. It didn't hurt at all from what it seemed. They both were just avoiding a conflicting topic of what happened.

They both got out of the car and walked up to the apartment. Donald opened the door and Liz followed in afterwards.

Elizabeth took off her shoes, and walked her way into her room. All she wanted was some peace, she's had one too many conflicts in her life and what happened tonight added up to that. Her shoes dropped against the doorframe, then she walked over to sit on her bed. The outcome of what happened made her rethink her choices she made. She kept wishing to herself to erase everything that took place. That's all she could desire right now.

**Author's Note: This chapter was the hardest to write, and I hope all the effort I put into this came out. Thank you for reading this far.**


	10. Turn Off the Lights

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Blacklist. **

Elizabeth couldn't help herself after all that happened that night. At the moment, she was sitting on her bed, she didn't want to move from there until the next morning. Her blue dress had only bad memories flooding it. She loved it the moment Donald bought it for her, but until this night, she feels only pain wearing on it. All that she wanted was to be welcomed by Audrey and that is all. All she did was bash Liz indirectly, and it hurt Liz. All that was necessary now was that she'd forget this night and move on, but she knows she can't.

Her eyes red, bloodshot, and were flooding with tears. Her hands covered her face, feeling the warmth of the droplets on her cheeks helped her a little with calming down, but it wasn't going to help completely. She didn't want anything to do with anyone, not even Ressler. As much as she knew he would help, she needed to cope with the moments that happened on her own. She can't be babied by him forever, somehow she's going to have to get up off the ground and face her problems without him. Just like she did the first day of work. She felt so powerful and independent. She misses that feeling, but ever since she's discovered she can't truly trust everyone besides Red and Ressler, she's been taken aback because of it all.

She got up from her bed, and walked to the desk. She saw a note on the table, it was in Ressler's handwriting. The first thought was that he wrote that letter while she got ready for the worst gathering she went to. She was tempted to crumble it and toss it at the wall. She felt so much anger and pain towards everything in this moment, but she knew it wouldn't be good to show her emotions now. Sleep is the only thing that could help her out, but before she plans on going to sleep, she wants to read the letter.

The letter read:

_Liz,_

_I care a lot about you. I don't like seeing you upset. You deserve so much more, and I hope I can help with that in any way. You deserve happiness, not sadness. I hope that Tom and his situation with you or anything else doesn't break you._

_Besides all I stated above, I think you're a stunning independent lady, and I hope you see that. Lizzie, you are one of the people I never imagined being close to. You are so amazing, and I will care about you when everything doesn't go right. I'm always going to be here for you and it's a promise I'm willing to keep._

_Ressler_

Liz put the letter down and crossed her arms on the desk, then placed her head over them. All she wanted to do was cry more than she had before. It really didn't help that Ressler wrote that sappy letter for her. It made her feel a bit better that there was some reassurance from him, but it didn't cure the hurt she still has.

Tonight was going to be a rough night for Elizabeth Keen, and there was nothing that could fix that.

* * *

Donald saw the light on still in Liz's room. He walked in there slow, he didn't want to wake her. He paused to see if the coast was clear the moment he hit the doorframe. His hands steadied the doorway, as he looked to see if Elizabeth was awake. She was turned on her side, laying on her bed. Silently sleeping with the light still on. Don entered the room, turning off the light switch on the wall beside his hand. He walked slowly, taking his time to get to Liz. As he got to her bed side. He knelt on his knees, resting his arms on the bed. He took two deep breaths before standing up slowly. He bent over a little, pushed the hair on her face away, and kissed her cheek gently. He stood up straight again, and saw the covers of the bed not covering her. He grabbed the sheet and comforter from the end of the bed, and pulled them over Liz's slim figure. All he wanted was her not to be upset because of what happened. He had no idea Audrey would ever be that obnoxious to any of his friends or even his closest co-workers.

Donald just wanted to push the bad things aside and help out Liz. He sat at the end of the bed slowly, hoping not to wake her. The last thing he wanted was Liz to freak out because he was in there beside her.

"No, no, no." Liz mumbled in her sleep, pulling her knees into her chest.

Don's thumb rubbed Liz's shoulder, hoping to calm her down, "Shh, it's okay. I'm here." He whispered.

"Don't touch me!" She yelled as she turned.

"Liz, it's going to be fine. He's not there. It's me, Ressler." Donald got up and sat on the side of the bed Liz was on and sat her up in his lap.

She opened her eyes, shaken from the terror. She was startled by her dream and a little nervous that Donald was in her room, holding her.

"T-t-tom h-hurt me, he n-never was l-l-like that." Liz stuttered as she clung onto Donald.

He patted Liz's back gently, "It was a dream. Nobody's going to hurt you. I promise."

"He might come back, worse than before."

"I promise he won't. Nothing's going to happen to you. Not when I'm around."

Liz sighed, as she was in Ressler's embrace. She didn't want anything to happen to him either. She didn't want him to have to put up with Tom again. Nor did she.

"Donald," Liz started all over again.

"Liz."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Can you stay with me again?" She asked pulling away a little from Donald, looking at his face. Her eyes shaking.

"Yeah." He replied, pulling away from Liz slowly. "Let me get my alarm."

"Okay." She said softly as she turned back and clasped her hands together under her head.

Donald walked to his room and grabbed his phone from the nightstand. He noticed there were ten missed messages on it, but he wasn't planning on getting to them this moment. He'd rather make sure Liz is okay instead of checking the messages.

He walked back to the room noticing Liz was laying on the bed with her hands under her head. Like he did before, he walked slowly and cautiously to not wake up Liz, if she were asleep like before. She didn't need to wake up because he was walking into her room. He sat his phone down on the desk gently, making hardly any sound, then made his way to Liz's bed.

Ressler lifted the two warm blankets and pulled them over himself. He slowly turned to face Liz's back, and put his arm around her waist, and pulled her a little closer to him.

Liz grinned and tossed herself until she could face Donald. She blushed as she saw his face. She was so comfortable with being so close to him, feeling so safe in his arms. She never felt this calm with Tom. There was always something telling her he wasn't who he was, and she realized that not too long ago. Liz knew Donald wasn't like Tom. Tom Keen was the devil in her eyes, and Donald Ressler was the guardian angel.

Liz closed her eyes, moved a little closer towards Don, and put her arms around his neck. She slowly fell to sleep, knowing he would be by her side.

Donald hoped Liz wouldn't end up having another nightmare tonight, especially when he's holding her. He kissed Liz's forehead lightly, then pulled away. He saw her lip curl slightly. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

To the noise of a ring on Donald's phone, the two woke up, entangled in each other's arms. Liz smiled back at Don, untangling himself from Liz, as much as he'd rather stay there. Donald rose from the bed, and walked to the desk, turning off the phone's obnoxious tone. He looked at Liz, as she sat up on the side of her bed, her hands grabbing the edges of the mattress, then letting go.

"Good morning, Liz." Donald grinned, grabbing his phone from the desk.

"Morning. What time is it?" Liz asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Six thirty, why?"

Her eyes opened wide. She got up from the bed, and rushed into the bathroom closet, rummaging for something to wear to work. The closet looked like a mess when she was throwing things on the floor of the closet, and making a bit of a mess of her previously clean closet.

Donald walked into the bathroom to see Liz in a full on rush, and stood in the hall, with his back against the wall. "Liz, calm down, we have plenty of time to get ready."

"Yeah, but it didn't help much ruining my sleeping habit, Ress." She glared at Ressler, peering out of the closet wall.

"I apologize, but you know you don't need to rush."

"Okay, but don't come complaining to me because we were late." Liz finally picked out her dark work pants, and a red blouse with her complimentary jacket.

Ressler laughed to himself, walking to his room to get ready as well.

**Author's Note: I'm sorry this chapter is so short, please enjoy!**


End file.
